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Why spells should work the same in PvE and PvP
This ugly subject inevitably comes up: "I do bad damage in PvP, but they can't buff me because of my high PvE damage." Spend enough time around MMOs, and you'll hear that line with nearly the same regularity that the cock crows each morning. That statement leads to this one: "Spells should work differently in PvP and PvE. They're two different games!" They're not, they shouldn't, and please, no. Ghostcrawler himself just hit the forums to point out a few good, solid, technical reasons. To sum up his excellent explanation, Blizzard can't just duplicate all the spells and make them work different in PvP and PvE because that multiplies the level of complexity in the programming. The more complexity you add to the system, the more likely you are to see bugs and exploits sneak into the game. Not to mention, on the other side of the fence, the PvP dynamic itself is so complex that you can't just assume "low damage" is a function of the game itself. It can easily be due to the metagame, not to mention each player's performance. Ghostcrawler's logic seems to be a slam dunk, but I've had the misfortune of playing in a few games that did use different rule sets for PvP and PvE. It's a nightmare. City of Heroes was so clumsy in its divisive handling that I still wake up at night screaming, "That was my power move!" WoW isn't an either/or game. You don't tend to completely eschew PvE when you're playing PvP, no matter how much we wish you could. Dailies, raids, and other circumstances force you into the world. Even dedicated PvE players jump into the BGs occasionally. Separating the rules between the playing arenas creates yet another barrier to playing the entire World of Warcraft. Not to mention, if those different rules are different enough, it ends up feeling like you're running two different characters. Is that really the game we want? It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Skill Mastery: Astral Shift
One of the early shaman survival cooldowns that you can get at level 15 is called Astral Shift. It isn't flashy or super awesome or anything. But an emergency damage reducer on a 2-minute cooldown could be just what you need to stay alive and continue DPSing (or healing). It doesn't reduce only magic damage. Nor does it reduce only physical damage. It reduces any damage! In case you feel two minutes is too long, you have some alternatives. Nature's Guardian is an effect that can kick in once every 30 seconds, which might potentially save you (although the next hit you take could be lethal). Stone Bulwark totem is another alternative that places a shield on you which refreshes and adds additional absorb amounts every five seconds after. The theme of the level 15 shaman talents revolves around survival and damage mitigation. Raiders may lean more toward Astral Shift, but I'm using the Stone Bulwark totem for the purposes of questing and leveling. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
EVE Evolved: How to fit the Enyo and Ishkur
When tech 2 ships were first introduced to EVE Online, the first models off the production line were interceptors and assault ships. Interceptors served as agile tacklers with unmatched speed and maneuverability, while assault ships provided a slower but tankier option. Each race's assault ship had a bonus to its racial resistances, making it an incredible tank against certain damage types. This made it great for ninja-ratting in nullsec or tackling larger ships of a particular race. When subsequently released ships were also given this racial resistance bonus, the assault frigate lost part of what made it so useful. Players have begged for an assault ship buff for years, and in Crucible, it finally arrived. The Gallente Ishkur and Enyo have always been capable PvE ships for speed-running low-level missions or ninja-ratting in nullsec, but with Crucible, they've become absolute monsters in both PvE and PvP. With the maneuverability and signature radius of a frigate but more tank and damage output than a tech 1 cruiser, both ships are incredibly fun to fly. Drone users will probably prefer the Ishkur, but the Enyo's raw damage output and buffer tank are truly terrifying. In this week's EVE Evolved, I offer PvE and PvP setups for the Gallente Ishkur and Enyo to help you get the most out of these incredible revamped ships.
Massively Exclusive: World of Warplanes producer talks mechanics
Wargaming.net is working overtime of late, and how could it not? The company is responsible for three separate MMORPGs, beginning with 2011's successful World of Tanks and ending with the recently announced World of Battleships. Sandwiched in the middle is World of Warplanes, an ambitious aerial arcade shooter married to traditional MMO progression mechanics. The game is currently in closed alpha testing and looks to be on track for a 2012 release. This week saw the release of the game's first advancement tree, and we took the opportunity to ask producer Anton Sitnikov a series of questions covering everything from game mechanics to player perceptions regarding the pay-to-win stigma.
Sprint to offer three levels of iPhone service, 'yellow' AppleCare+ repairs will cost $49
Thinking about buying an iPhone 4S from Sprint? Depending on how clumsy you tend to be with mobile devices, you might want to consider adding the $99 AppleCare+ option at purchase, since those Total Equipment Protection plans are definitely out. A Sprint employee wrote in to detail us on upcoming service procedures, which include grouping a damaged device within three categories -- green, yellow and red -- after diagnosis. As you might imagine, green repairs are the easiest to deal with, and include 'minor damage' (i.e. cracked screens are out). These repairs will be handled for free within the first year for all customers, and within two years for those who purchased AppleCare+. Next up, the yellow category covers damage that doesn't fall within green, but is still repairable. Non subscribers will pay $199, while those with AppleCare+ will pay $49. Klutzes beware: you're limited to two yellow repairs, regardless of whether or not the device is in warranty. Finally, the red category is reserved for iPhones that provide little function beyond holding down a stack of papers or propping open your door. You'll need to pay the full replacement cost for red-labeled phones. None of these repairs will be handled in store -- iPhones will be shipped to Apple, though you're welcome to start the process at Sprint. Our recommendation: reach out to Apple directly, since your iPhone is probably headed there either way. And if you want AppleCare, don't forget to buy it at launch. Updated: Sprint wrote in to let us know that device swaps (not repairs) can in fact be handled in store, so you won't always need to go to Apple. [Thanks, Anonymous]
Sprint says no to iPhone insurance, AppleCare+ breathes sigh of relief
The Now Network is apparently voting thumbs-down to the idea of having its Total Equipment Protection plans available to its new crown jewel. According to a leaked slide courtesy of SprintFeed, your shiny Sprint-branded iPhone 4S (or 4) won't be offered with a healthy portion of peace of mind; rather, you'll need to purchase the AppleCare+ Protection Plan or go through a third party to have any protection from accidental damage. This may change down the road, as the slide says it won't be offered "at launch," but only time will tell. Unfortunate, yes, but we suppose there's always a bright side -- at least there's now a Sprint iPhone to not have insurance for, right?
AppleCare+ debuts for $99, offers to cover accidental damage in addition to the standard fare
Once upon a time, the AppleCare Protection Plan was a service provided by Cupertino to extend out the life of your iPhone warranty for an extra year and enable Apple reps to help with additional customer service concerns. It still offers all of that, but now a Plus has been added to the title. The new plan was revealed as the cloak over the Apple Store lifted after today's keynote, with the boxes shipping out the same day as the iPhone 4S. What's so "plus" about it, you might ask? It's plus $30, for one, getting a price bump from $70 to $100. The good news, though, is that it also now offers two instances of protection from accidental damage... for a $49 fee each time. It's a fair deal less than shelling out full retail price for a fresh one, of course, but there doesn't appear to be any other new features beyond what we're already used to getting. Oh, except for "one more thing": whereas its predecessor could be obtained and activated anytime within the first twelve months of your purchase, it appears that AppleCare+ has to be bought at the same time as the valuable treasure it's protecting. We're still sifting through the fine print, so we'll holler if we come across any other changes. This raises the question: does the accidental damage handling justify the higher cost? [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Jeff Bezos drops phone, has eureka moment, patents mini airbags
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos must have time on his hands and butter on his fingers. Why else would he have personally signed this patent application for a horrendously complicated "damage avoidance system?" It involves using a smartphone's inbuilt motion sensors to detect a free-fall calamity, then sending an emergency signal to a separate protective sleeve, which finally "deploys an airbag prior to contact." Heck, if we're going down that road Jeff, why not just stick some mini thrusters on it and make it hover?
Sprint's Assurant Advanced Protection Pack protects against theft and damage, not alliteration
What's the price of peace of mind, when it comes to the safety of your shiny new HTC EVO View 4G or Samsung Galaxy Tab? How does $13 a month sound? That price will get you a membership in Sprint's not-so-exclusive Assurant Advanced Protection Pack club. Included in the cost are a device locator, malware protection, remote log-in help, and a replacement or repair, should a qualified netbook, notebook, or tablet suffer from mechanical or electric problems. Sprint will also help out if you accidentally damage it (i.e., not what's happening in the image above), or get it lost or stolen -- the last three do involve a $100 deductible, however. No one ever said protection was going to be cheap.
Blood Sport: Finding your PVP playstyle in arena
Want to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women? C. Christian Moore, multiple rank 1 Gladiator, examines the latest arena strategy, trends, compositions and more in Blood Sport. I've found one of the most common excuses for not having an arena team is conflicting playstyles with past teammates. While often times these excuses are not really the problem (far too many arena players are self-centered and unreceptive to criticism), playstyle differences can be a factor in not meshing well with certain players. I'd like to provide you with a few common playstyle differences, my take on which side of the spectrum is generally more popular, which side is generally better, and what I tend toward.
Parrot AR.Drone floats into damaged New Zealand cathedral, returns with haunting video
Whenever disaster strikes, robots are among the first to scope out the damage. Rarely, however, do they return with footage as eerie as what this Parrot AR.Drone recorded in Christchurch, New Zealand. In the wake of Monday's 6.0-magnitude earthquake, engineers sent the $500 bot into the city's Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament -- a 106-year-old Roman Catholic church that had sustained significant damage, rendering it too dangerous for humans to enter. The iPad-controlled quadrocopter swooped in and captured rather depressing images of the cathedral's battered interior. The video's quality may be low, but its creepy quotient is high: shattered stained-glass windows, piles of debris, stray pieces of iconography -- it's all quite heavy. Head past the break to see it for yourself. [Thanks, Ross]
TrackMania 2 Canyon preview: The amazing race
Even fans of Nadeo's legendary TrackMania racing series (which, even if you haven't played, you might remember from the wild 1k Project videos) might be forgiven for thinking they've been abandoned. The last game in the series was released for the Nintendo DS two years ago, and while a full sequel to the popular original game and its many addons was announced in 2009, those plans were apparently derailed a bit by a Ubisoft acquisition in 2010. Last year at E3, Ubisoft revealed that it would be turning the series into a platform called ManiaPlanet, with not much more than a name and an ambitious release plan (including not just the long-awaited racing sequel, but also highly customizable RPG and shooter titles as well). Since then, we haven't gotten much more than a screenshot, and a promise that the game's still coming. Finally, last month at a pre-E3 event, we got to see the title, now called TrackMania 2 Canyon, in action. This is indeed a brand new TrackMania game, featuring all of the kooky customizable tracks and over-the-top physics-based racing that's made the series so popular. But rather than TrackMania 2, Canyon is actually the beginning of the TrackMania platform, one that will depend as much on user creations as what the developers actually assemble.%Gallery-124809%
SquareTrade torture tests the iPad 2 by dropping it on cement
Personally, I wouldn't deliberately drop my iPad 2 on cement, but the folks at SquareTrade were crazy enough to let not one, but two iPads fall to a sidewalk. The first drop was waist-high and included both a bare iPad 2 and one encased in a Smart Cover. As expected, the naked iPad suffered a cracked screen so bad that it will make you cringe. The iPad with the Smart Cover, though, survived unscathed. Taking the test one step further, the group dropped the Smart Cover iPad from shoulder height, which is about a 4 to 5 foot drop. Sadly, the second trial ended poorly for the iPad 2. The Smart Cover popped off from the impact, and the screen suffered some peripheral damage. It wasn't a total loss as the screen was not shattered, but the cracks on the edge and in the center would make it difficult to use. Read on to check out the video of the tests in action.
DOFUS introduces Rogue and Masqueraider classes
Class-based fantasy games aren't unusual these days; in fact, they're the standard. It's rare that such a title has more than a handful of classes, though. Then there's DOFUS. The six-year-old free-to-play title recently added Masqueraiders and Rogues, bringing the game's class total to a whopping 14. Rogues function a bit differently than the rascally backstabbers you may be used to from other games. Rogues effectively dictate actions on the battlefield through the use of bombs and walls, which direct enemy movements and function as a form of crowd control. Masqueraiders take their power from a variety of wearable masks, which allow the player to adopt several fighting styles. Three masks types are available: the cowardly mask (ranged damage), the psychopath mask (close combat damage), and the classic mask (crowd control). Finally, Masqueraiders can also avail themselves of several buff-type spells including plastron, tororuga, and trance. Head to the official DOFUS website for all the details.
iPhone 4 survives 1,000 foot fall from Air Force plane
Late last night, we received an email from U.S. Air Force Combat Controller Ron Walker, who wrote to tell us an incredible story about his iPhone 4 and a minor workplace mishap. Staff Sergeant Walker's duties as a jump master require him to ensure that his aircraft is in the proper location before sending parachute jumpers into the air. One week ago (on March 16), he stuck his body out of the plane's open door to look for landmarks as the plane sped through the air at 130 knots (about 150 mph), about 1,000 feet above the ground. As he did so, the Velcro seal on his pocket flew open, and out popped his iPhone. Airman Walker could do nothing but watch it fall away from the plane; he assumed it was lost forever, not to mention destroyed by the fall (for reference, that drop is roughly equivalent to tossing a phone off of a 90-story skyscraper). Later, he told his tale of loss to his colleagues on the ground, one of whom installed the Find My iPhone app on his iPhone. Within minutes, the app found the wayward phone, still active, and Walker and his buddy hopped on ATVs and tracked it down in a wooded area about 2 miles away. Not only was the iPhone undamaged, Walker reports, it was in perfect working order -- "not a scratch on it, not even dirty." That's the phone itself in the photo above. The phone was wearing a Griffin case at the time of its unexpected journey, but no special aerodynamic protection. (It wasn't even this Griffin case, which is designed to meet military standards.) Thanks to Staff Sgt. Walker for sharing this iPhone recovery saga, and for his continuing service to our country. We're glad it turned out so well. Next time, however, make sure the iPhone is wearing a parachute and carrying a flare gun. [Airman Walker also shared his story separately with iLounge.]
Scott Hartsman wraps up the sixth beta event for RIFT
With the open beta less than a week away, now is the time for Trion Worlds to step up and address the lingering issues RIFT has before it starts being available for general consumption. Fortunately for the development team, it's a task it's proven quite accomplished at, and the newest wrap-up for the sixth event proves that there's still a lot going on behind the scenes. Scott Hartsman takes the opportunity in the last pre-open beta wrap-up to discuss PvP in the open world, damage tuning, and the difference in raid sizes for endgame content. As Hartsman puts it, some of the anti-PvP measures put into place will be removed on PvP servers, meaning weaker guards around hubs and destroyable wardstones. Damage levels seem to be in a fairly good place across the board from the development perspective, but they're something that will be watched closely during the open event. Hartsman also touches more on the late-game rift content and what it will mean for the game's balance and the availability of content. RIFT players should take a gander at the full rundown and get ready for the open beta starting on Tuesday next week.
iPad run over by a PT Cruiser, lives to tell the tale
We see a lot of examples of how Apple products can withstand abuse, but one of the more dramatic examples showed up in the TUAW inbox this afternoon. Reader Aaron sent us a link to a YouTube video (on the next page) demonstrating how an iPad belonging to a fellow employee handled being run over by the front and rear wheels of a Chrysler PT Cruiser. As the video shows, the iPad was in the standard Apple Case and the front glass was crushed quite extensively. However, the Home button still worked and the rest of the components in the display were totally functional. The touchscreen still responded to gestures, and the accelerometer responded by rotating the screen. We don't recommend driving over your iPad to test the durability (duh!), but isn't it good to know that it can handle this kind of abuse and still work? Enjoy the video.
The Mog Log: Durability is counterintuitive
I hadn't really understood the people complaining about repair costs in Final Fantasy XIV until I started running into the same problem they had. Oh, certainly, I knew what they were saying, but I wasn't able to replicate the problem and couldn't really speak to it as a result. In a way, that meant I was actually kind of glad when I started noticing that repairing my Iron Falchion was costing far more money than leves were bringing in. (Mostly I was suddenly wondering how I would continue playing a class I adored, but that's a different discussion.) Repairs and item durability aren't flashy parts of the game, but they are pretty vital, since trying to work in all red gear is going to severely hamper your efforts. Now that I've experimented a bit more with durability and figured out more of how the cost is calculated, it seemed prudent to share what I know so that other players can help keep their gear in top condition. After all, you don't want to be walking around with the little Gear Damage icon unless you absolutely can't avoid it.
iPhone 4 glass spawns class action lawsuit
Apple faces a class action lawsuit from California resident Donald LeBuhn over the glass used in the company's popular iPhone 4 handset. LeBuhn accuses Apple of misleading customers by pointing to Apple's website, which boasts that the glass used on the iPhone 4 is "20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic." LeBuhn disputes this and other claims of durability in his lawsuit, which states: "Months after selling millions of iPhone 4s, Apple has failed to warn and continues to sell this product with no warning to customers that the glass housing is defective." LeBuhn asserts the glass does not stand up to normal use and cites his own experiences to back up this claim. On two separate occasions, LeBuhn has dropped his iPhone from similar heights. In the first incident, he dropped an iPhone 3GS, which survived the fall without breaking. In the second case, LeBuhn's daughter dropped an iPhone 4 while texting, and the handset's glass shattered. LeBuhn has sought class action status on this complaint and is asking Apple to refund the purchase price of the iPhone 4 and reimburse any repair fees for affected customers. This is not the first time the durability of the glass in the iPhone has been questioned. A report last year from Square Trade suggests the iPhone 4 has a 68% higher reported accident rate and 82% more damaged screens than the iPhone 3GS. That's not to say the iPhone 3G or 3GS wont break. One of our own writers cracked the glass screen on his iPhone 3G and detailed the process of screen replacement and repair. [Via IntoMobile]
Addon Spotlight: DrDamage
Each week, WoW Insider brings you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs as well as Addon Spotlight, which focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience: the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond -- your addons folder will never be the same. This week, the doctor is in. Welcome to the first Addon Spotlight post-Cataclysm edition! With the release of Cataclysm and the subsequent changing of environments, instances, raid and dungeon progress, and everything in between, certain addons that we've come to rely on continue to thrive or slowly die out as the world's needs change. Little forgotten addons, we salute you and hope that you find a way back into our hearts. This week, your HMO better cover out-of-system doctors, because we're going to the best. Occasionally called "Doctor TMI" among my friends, DrDamage is a beefy little addon that adds a completely new level of understanding and information to your damage and healing abilities. Sometimes you learn a little too much about your skills. Nonetheless, DrDamage is a unique addon that can help you feel your way through Cataclysm's new skills and abilities, making you a heroic king again in no time.
